The History…
The West View News has a number of pieces on the garden, including this great story, which explains…
“The Jane Street Garden was established in 1973 on the vacant and privately-owned, burned-out lot at Jane Street and 8th Avenue. The initiative was spearheaded by the Jane Street Block Association, under the leadership of Phyllis Katz and Jean Verral, and was designed by landscape architect Dan Stewart.”
AMNY’s oral history is recounted by a neighbor who watched the space go from Greek revival row houses to abandoned lot and finally a community garden.
The Timeline…
Early 1970s: A fire destroys the three-story building at 36 Jane Street, which housed on its ground floor a newsstand and deli. (The deli, Spyro’s later moved one block south, to Eighth Avenue and West 12th Street.)
1973: The hulk of the burned-out building is demolished, leaving a pile of rubble on the lot. The Jane Street Block Association, led by Paula Feddersen, launches a plan to create a community garden on the site. Organized by Phyllis Katz, Jean Verral, and other concerned neighbors, volunteers help clear the lot, leaving debris for collection by supportive garbagemen. The first seeds are sown that fall.
Winter 1974: Landscape architect and Jane Street resident Dan Stewart draws up a design for the garden, and arranges to have “two truckfuls of dirt” dumped over the rubble remains. (Some of it still lies underneath the soil to this day.)
Fall 1974: The garden is officially open, planted with herbs, chrysanthemums and marigolds, pumpkins and rhubarb. Fundraising efforts begin; neighbor Gladys Schroeder mans a table out front, attracting donations from passing motorists. Dozens of keys are made and distributed to local residents, and benches are installed. The garden wins a Mollie Parnis “Dress Up Your Neighborhood” prize.
May 1975: The (still-private) property changes hands, and the new owner dispatches workers to rip up the garden’s plantings. The Jane Street Block Association and neighbors vociferously oppose his plans to construct a new four-story building on the site, fighting the developer at the Landmarks Commission, the Department of Buildings, and other City agencies. Rumors spread that the planned building will be used as a brothel.
1977: City officials foreclose on the lot’s owner due to tax arrears (he later served time in prison), and negotiate a deal with JSBA to lease the still-vacant space for $500 per month.
Winter 1974: The garden is recreated, and neighbors construct a Dutch-style windmill, whose rotating blades are powered by a jerry-rigged connection to a streetlamp on the sidewalk. The first “Nieuw Amsterdam Festival” — JSBA’s annual fundraiser, which would become an annual extravaganza — takes place, raising funds to pay the lease with the City.
October 1982: Celebrating the deep ties between the Netherlands and New York City, the annual Nieuw Amsterdam Festival block party features appearances by Wim Polak, Mayor of Amsterdam; Ed Koch, Mayor of New York; and members of the Dutch royal family. A faux canal bridge is constructed in front of the garden for the occasion.
Winter 1974: Mid-1980s: Ivan the “Friendly Neighborhood Poet” takes up residence in the increasingly decrepit windmill. After a spate of local thefts, he was evicted, and the windmill town down.
1987: JSBA seeks a new framework for funding its lease with the City, which has become unaffordable to the organization. Enter preservation organization the West Village Committee, which negotiates a new, 25-year lease with the City, and takes over responsibilities for the garden’s maintenance and operations.
Late 1980s–early 2000s: The formidable Bill Bowser of the WVC and other volunteers spend countless hours elevating the garden’s plantings. With sporadic opening hours, the garden becomes a beautiful viewing garden
2012: Through the efforts of WVC leaders Peter Falk and Michael Talbott, and Jane Street resident Barry Benepe, the garden officially joins the NYC Parks Department’s GreenThumb program. The garden opens to the public on weekends.
2014: A city-funded project to replace the existing chain-link fence with wrought iron commences.
December 2018: The stunning new fence is unveiled at a ribbon-cutting attended by local officials.
2022: A new group of supporters takes the reins from the West Village Committee, and a new supporting organization, Friends of Jane St Garden, is constituted. Its nonprofit status allows the group to raise funds dedicated solely to the upkeep and improvement of this neighborhood treasure.
